By Mark Carruthers
Shildon player-manager Daniel Moore is determined to help the Ebac Northern League club finally realise their FA Vase dreams this season.
The Railwaymen have achieved success in a number of competitions over the last decade as they lifted a Northern League title, two Northern League Cups and three Durham Challenge Cups.
However, an unsuccessful appearance in a semi-final against Tonbridge Wells in 2013 remains their best performance in a competition that has been dominated by Northern League clubs.
Shildon’s North East rivals Spennymoor Town saw off Guernsey in the other semi-final before going on to claim a 2-1 win against Tonbridge in the final.
Coincidentally, Moore was captain of the Moors squad during that season, but a broken ankle suffered just weeks before the final robbed him of the opportunity to walk out at Wembley.
Moore will be back on the road to Wembley this weekend when Shildon host Warrington Rylands in the last 32 of the Vase and he is hopeful that his side can deliver some happier memories for his club and himself.
He told The NLP: “I was at Spennymoor when Shildon got to the semi-final and they still hound me about that year to this day.
“Being that close, and being in control of a tie, they’ve been as close as anyone in the Northern League to getting to the final without making it.
“I would love to be the manager that does get Shildon there and I know what it would mean to them as a club.
“There are people at the club that deserve that chance to be at Wembley and from a personal point of view I would like to do it for the chairman.
“He’s put so much into the football club and the community and he deserves it.
“There are people that live and breathe for this football club and we want to get there for them.”
The winners of Saturday’s tie will host either North Ferriby or West Auckland Town in the last 16 of the competition.
